


go to the ends of the earth for you

by anythingbutplatonic



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, Missing scene from 31.01.19, Post-HF scam reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 03:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18327851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anythingbutplatonic/pseuds/anythingbutplatonic
Summary: A missing scene from 31.01.19 - what happened after Jimmy and Nicola left after the Home Farm scam reveal.“It wasn’t your fault,” Aaron shook his head. “You couldn’t have known Graham was gonna rumble ya, or that he’d drag Nicola into it to screw ya both over.”





	go to the ends of the earth for you

“I suppose we can cancel those visa applications then.”

Aaron’s voice was calm, nonchalant, as he plugged his phone in to charge up for the night, half-in and half-out of his pyjamas, waiting for Robert to come out of the bathroom. He could see him through the slightly ajar door, barefoot and in a pair of Aaron’s own tracksuit bottoms, carefully brushing his teeth for the dentist-recommended two minutes. Aaron had scoffed at him when he’d put a small red kitchen timer on their bathroom shelf, outright laughed the first time Robert had very seriously set it for two minutes before brushing. 

It was mental, he’d thought, who uses an egg timer to measure how long to brush their teeth for? 

Robert, that’s who. Because sometimes, it was very clear to Aaron just how plain  _weird_  his husband was.

He heard the tap run in the sink, heard Robert’s toothbrush clatter back into the cup on the shelf, and then he was padding back into the room, a dejected look on his face. Worry lines creased his forehead, and if the situation had been any different, Aaron would have taken the opportunity to make a joke about wrinkles and lines and old age, but somehow it didn’t really fit the mood.

Robert sat heavily on the edge of the bed next to him, the mattress groaning under his weight. He kept his eyes firmly on the carpet between his feet as he said quietly, “Aaron, I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Aaron shook his head. “You couldn’t have known Graham was gonna rumble ya, or that he’d drag Nicola into it to screw ya both over.” 

“I should’ve been more careful,” his husband insisted. “I should’ve covered my tracks better, protected Nicola. Made sure that she didn’t take all of the blame in all this. I shouldn’t have let her carry all of the weight.” He hung his head, scrubbing his palms over his face, then through his hair, making it stand on end. “Now we’ve lost our baby, and our friends have lost their livelihood and probably their home, too.” A beat of silence followed, and then Robert said bitterly, “Just another thing I’ve  _messed_  up.”

Aaron turned to face Robert, pulling his legs up underneath him to sit on crossed ankles. “Look, ya haven’t  _messed anything up_ , okay? Yeah, it was pretty stupid, I’ll give ya that, but I’m not gonna get angry at ya for trying to do right by our  _family_ , Robert. I know your heart was in the right place, and maybe that’s all that matters.”

“But the surrogacy,” Robert pressed on, upset clear in his voice as it strained over the words. “The clinics, the visits to agencies, all the plans we’d made….that’s all gone now. Because of me.” He shifted on the bed, pulled his phone out of his trouser pocket, pressed a button. “Look at this. D’you know what this is?”

Aaron looked. It was Robert’s lockscreen. A photograph of the four of them - him, Robert, Liv and Seb - all smiling at the camera. He remembered the day clearly; Liv had insisted on taking a proper family photo, had ordered Robert and Aaron onto the sofa and plopped Seb on Robert’s knee, before setting her own phone on a timer and rushing behind them to perch over the back of the sofa, a smile on her face so wide it was in danger of splitting it in half. The four of them. Their little family.

“This is my whole world,” Robert said, his throat tightening. “My whole world is right here, in this photo. And I wanted it to get bigger. I wanted Seb to have brothers and sisters. I wanted us to be dads again, for the second time - a hundred times!” He gave a little wet laugh. “I wanted to make you happy. I wanted  _us_  to be happy.”

“We still  _can_ , ya muppet,” Aaron sighed, reaching over to put a hand on his husband’s forearm, thumb rubbing over the soft skin there. “You haven’t ruined anythin’. It’s just a setback, that’s all. We’ll deal with it.”

“What, going to prison for fraud and embezzlement? Yeah, that’ll warm us to a potential surrogate,” Robert mumbled. 

“Rob, look at me,” Aaron ordered, cupping his cheek gently and guiding Robert’s eyes to his. Blue meeting sea-green, the latter sparkling with the unshed tears of disappointment and failure. “ _You’re my world_ , too, ya know. And when I say I’m right in this with ya, I mean it. We will get our baby. We’ll find an amazing, fab surrogate, who understands us and accept us, and we’ll give Seb a little sister or a little brother that he’ll grow up with. It’ll happen. You’ll see.”

For the first time since earlier that evening, Robert smiled, all teeth and pink blushing cheeks. “I bloody love ya, you know that?”

“Course I do,” Aaron replied, giving him a soft peck on the lips. “I’m too irresistible, aren’t I?”

“Shut up, idiot,” Robert murmured - but his hands curled in the hem of Aaron’s pyjamas as he hungrily went for a second kiss, his heart still aching for his mistake, but buoyed by the notion that Aaron would always be there - and that somehow, things  _were_  going to work out.

**Author's Note:**

> originally written feb 1st 2019
> 
> come find me on tumblr: robertssvgden


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